Judy Greer Joining CBS’s “Friends” Ripof… Er, Homage

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There are certain actors who have a decided knack for choosing excellent material, which makes any future project they accept promising by sheer osmosis. Judy Greer is one such actress. You don’t appear on “Arrested Development,” “Archer,” and “Modern Family” without having pretty sharp comedic instincts. The fact that Greer has signed on to play one of the leads on CBS’ midseason sitcom “Mad Love” now makes that show promising, despite its relatively stale premise. From the always hustlin’ Nellie Andreeva over at Deadline:

Judy Greer has signed on to star in the CBS comedy Mad Love. With her and recent addition Sarah Chalke on board, the pilot’s 13-episode midseason order has now been finalized.

Mad Love is an ensemble comedy about four friends in New York - Henry (Jason Biggs), Kate (Chalke), Larry (Tyler Labine) and Connie (Greer) - who are looking for love.

It’s odd that CBS would order up a “Friends” knockoff when it already has a successful one in “How I Met Your Mother.” In fact, that show appears to be the exception to the rule when trying to revive the “Friends” formula. Think of all the shows that have tried to be “Friends” and failed miserably. “Coupling.” “It’s Like… You Know.” “Jesse.” This is not exactly fertile ground here.

Yet Greer’s casting gives the project a bit of comedic credibility it wouldn’t have otherwise. Paired with Chalke, the two actresses could help the show succeed by sheer force of will. A lot of sitcoms don’t figure out their real identity until A) They’re cancelled, or B) They’ve hung on long enough for the writers to figure it out. In the case of “Mad Love,” Greer and Chalke could help keep the show afloat until the creators finally sort out just why this show should exist. Because as of now, those two actors are the only reason.